The invention relates generally to firefighter training systems, and more particularly to gas fueled firefighter training systems that are operable to simulate a variety of different classes of fires.
Conventional firefighter training practices typically provide for the combustion of flammable materials, such as wood, straw, and other organic and inorganic materials, which are to be extinguished by the trainee upon the application of sufficient quantities of an appropriate fire extinguishing agent. However, these conventional training practices have come under scrunity in recent years as a result of the relatively high injury rate, adverse environmental impact, and limited training effectiveness and trainee throughput that is associated with such practices. For example, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that in the United States alone, nearly 6,000 training-related injuries were sustained by firefighters in 1988. Nevertheless, live fire training is a crucial and necessary component of firefighter training, for it most closely represents the overall environment a firefighter is likely to encounter during a genuine fire emergency. Unfortunately, conventional live fires that are set for the purpose of firefighter trainee education suffer from many of the very same hazards that are associated with genuine fire emergencies--unpredictability of fire propagation and its response to trainee action. As a consequence of these characteristics, it is often necessary for the trainee supervisors to themselves suppress the live fire prior to rendering perhaps life-saving assistance to a fallen trainee. Furthermore, because the very nature of a conventional live fire is unpredictability, it is not possible to accurately and readily reproduce a desired fire condition for a succession of firefighter trainees.
In an effort to address the foregoing deficiencies in firefighter training, live fire simulator systems have been implemented since the early 1970s which provide for, among other features, the substitution of various controllable arrangements of propane-fueled burners located within dedicated "burn rooms" for the prior practice of igniting various flammable props such as wood and straw bundles. However, these prior live fire simulator systems have been of such a scale as to inhibit effective fire suppression training for nearly all but large scale fires. Further, because of the size and complexity of such simulator systems, their installation is generally limited to permanently situated burn facilities. Accordingly, the benefits afforded by such live fire training have been limited to the relatively small numbers of trainees that have been able to personally visit these simulator systems.
The advantages in training both professional firefighters and other personnel such as instructors, factory workers and the like in suppressing relatively small fires have also been recognized since, if left unattended or improperly managed, these fires can lead to much larger scale fires that are commensurately more difficult to control.
One effort to train personnel as to the techniques for suppressing relatively small fires with fire extinguishers and the like is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,949. This patent discloses methods and apparatus for simulating fires and for evaluating trainee performance in suppressing simulated fires in accordance with a predetermined firefighting sequence. The trainer includes a video projection screen onto which the image of a simulated fire is projected, a modified CO.sub.2 extinguisher for producing a gas cloud representative of the release of conventional fire extinguishing agent dry chemicals, and electrical signal processing apparatus associated with the projection screen to provide an indication of extinguishing agent application to the simulated fire. All of the trainer components are housed within a mobile trailer. While this system provides the advantages of small fire suppression training in a portable facility, the facility is large and complex, and provides only a visual simulation of a fire rather than a genuine fire with flames and heat. Accordingly, many of the benefits and realism associated with live fire training are not provided with the trainer disclosed in this patent.
In view of the foregoing limitations in known firefighter training systems, there exists a need for a live fire firefighter trainer that allows for instruction as to the suppression of various classes of fires with conventional fire extinguisher equipment and which is readily affordable and transportable to allow for the training of relatively large numbers of professional firefighters and other personnel.